Driver Behaviour

Existing international research on digital advertising signage and driver distraction and behaviour have had mixed results. To get some certainty on this issue, the OMA conducted the first ever Australian on-road study to compare drivers’ eye fixations and driving performance when advertising signs (static signs, digital signs and on-premise signs) were present.

The study aimed to explore the relationship between drivers’ viewing behaviour towards Outdoor advertising signs and their subsequent driving performance in a live, real-world environment. It compared driver behaviour and performance in the presence of third party signage, on-premise signage and in the presence of digital, compared to static signage. The study showed:

Drivers maintain their eyes on the road 78–79% of the time, regardless of what signage is present

Ninety-nine percent of fixations at advertising signs lasted less than 750 milliseconds, the minimum time needed by a driver to perceive and react to an unexpected event

Driver behaviour did not differ dangerously, no matter what signage was present. Drivers maintained a safe average headway and there were no lane departures in the study